Italian or British Citizenship ??? am i stuck ??

[7digits]

hello everyone !
hope you all doing fine

ok, briefly here is the case,i live in uk, have ILR, soon will apply for BC, i booked my test ( life in UK) and got my self ready for the big excitement! until last week this is what happned.....

2 years ago i had made an application for Italian citizenship through the Ialian consulate in London,and guess what? had a reply!! i was sort of qualified for Italian citizenship!! well , i was exicted, the letter said that i need to do the oath first, so i gave them a call, i booked an appointement and the next available one is in 5months time!!! i wasnt really impressed!!! anyways, i hope idont sound selfish but the fact that i live in the UK , i believe that is better to have British Citizenship, OK, now where is the Probleme??

can i now apply for the BC ( January) Or do i have to cancel the italian one first( no oath made yet) ?

i understand that my case seems a bit personel im the one who need to make a choice, but to be honest i do need an advice, a little help will be really appreciated

thanks

[ppron747]

The UK government has no general objections to dual nationality, so they won't much care whether you become Italian or not, and it certainly won't make a difference to your application for naturalisation as a British citizen.

I think it really up to you - and the Italian government. I know they used to object to dual nationality, but don't know whether this is still the case. Why not give the Consulate a call?

[7digits]

thanks ppron747 for the reply

when we say Dual Nationality or citizenship (in this case British and Italian) , is that regardless of my original one i mean im not wiling to renounce my original nationality.

also ive done some research , the Dual citizenship is "reconized "by Italian gvmt ( amendement dated August 16, 1992)

[ppron747]

All I can say is that the British government simply doesn't care how many nationalities you have. If you've seen Guide AN(NEW), which accompanies the naturalisation application form, you'll have seen that nowhere in it does it say that people the UK government requires people to renounce any other nationality in order to be naturalised as a British citizen.

If the Italians also tolerate it, and there are no problems with the country you originally come from, it sounds fine to me.

[7digits]

thanks for your help Paul

[Rogerio]

I have a couple of friends who are Italian, Brazilian and British. No problem in any of those countries as they all allow for multiple citizenships. The only thing is, if you're in Italy, and have a problem, the UK government won't be able to help, as you are an Italian citizen... of course that would be unlikely to happen (you getting in trouble, that is).

Now, being British in Britain will allow you to vote for the UK general elections - whilst being Italian will only give you the right to vote for local elections. Obviously, if you are from a Commonwealth country you already have voting rights.

Personally, I don't think it's an either or decision. You just have to make sure your country of original citizenship allows for dual nationality.

Best

Rogerio

[Christophe]

7Digits - as noted above: there is no requirement for a person to renounce any other citizenships on naturalising as British or Italian. So there's no problem with your becoming Italian first or British first from that point of view.

Whether or not you would have to renounce your present citizenship depends solely, therefore, on the laws of that country. What is your present citizenship?

The only complication that I can see would arise if your present country of citizenship requires that you renounce that citizenship on acquiring another. In that case, if you become Italian first, and therefore had to renounce that citizenship, the problem then arises that your ILR is noted in your current passport, which would then be invalid as you would no longer be a citizen of that country. (This is assuming that you decided to go ahead in this circumstance.)

I am sure that there are ways around that problem, but whether or not you would need to think about it depends on your present citizenship.

In any event, with present time scales it sounds as if you might well become British before you become Italian anyway.

[7digits]

Thanks Rogerio !

Christopher wrote :

"I am sure that there are ways around that problem, but whether or not you would need to think about it depends on your present citizenship."

thats right ,my country does not allow multiple citizenship ! SO either British or Italian, let say i will apply for BC and soon, does my Italian citizenship will be considered valid if i dont do the OATH ??, do i have to cancel my appointement for that ( in 5 months time), shall i let them know that i want to go for BC or just leave things as they are and carry on with BC....i mean the Italian said i have 6 months to do the Oath so waht would happend if i miss that ,well, just wondering its best to contact them and get the info, but i find you guys very helpfull too !

thanks

[ppron747]

7digits: whether you take the Italian oath or not will make make NO difference to your British nationality. But this is a UK discussion board, and I don't think you can expect people here to know the intricacies of Italian law - it is not what we're here for...

I know there are a couple of Italian members on here, and I hope they might have a suggestion or two, but if they haven't, you'll have to ask the Italian Embassy for advice, or find an Italian discussion forum.

[7digits]

OK , fair enough, thanks anyways

[Marco 72]

Italy no longer objects to multiple citizenship. Even when it did, it wasn't strictly enforced. So I would say go ahead and get both. Italy recently abolished military service, so you don't have to worry about that. An Italian passport is easier to obtain than a British one, but Italy has a tax on passports. This can be a bit of a pain if you haven't paid it and suddenly remember at the Italian border (it happened to me once).

[JAJ]

An Italian passport is easier to obtain than a British one,

What exactly do you mean by this, out of interest?

[Marco 72]

An Italian passport is easier to obtain than a British one,

What exactly do you mean by this, out of interest?

I was just trying to compare the ease of access to a passport for Italian vs British citizens. Here are what I think are a few pros and cons.

Italian passport

Advantages:

- Can usually be obtained within a few days from the date of application, either in Italy or abroad.
- No need to bother with referees.
- Italian citizens have a constitutional right to one, unless there are legal proceedings against them (that said, I do remember a double citizen being ased "why don't you get an Australian passport??" at the Italian consulate in London. The clerk relented when the man explained to her that an Australian passport was useless to him in London).

Disadvantages:

- Need to apply for it and collect it in person.
- If applying abroad, Italian consulates aren't very nice places: long waits in crowded rooms, very arrogant bureaucrats, no privacy whatsoever.
- Passport tax (only relevant at Italian border).
- Don't know if Italian consulates issue biometric passports yet.

British passport

Advantages:

- Can apply for it and receive it in the post.
- No passport tax.

Disadvantages:

- Need to get signatures from two referees. They must be passport holders, have known you for at least two years and work in one of several specific professions.
- No legal right to one. The Home Office can deny a passport application, e.g. for security reasons, although such a denial can be challenged in the courts.
- I believe that since this year anyone who has never had a UK passport and applies for one will have to be interviewed.
- Long waiting times.

[Dawie]

British passport

Advantages:

- Can apply for it and receive it in the post.
- No passport tax.

Disadvantages:

- Need to get signatures from two referees. They must be passport holders, have known you for at least two years and work in one of several specific professions.
- No legal right to one. The Home Office can deny a passport application, e.g. for security reasons, although such a denial can be challenged in the courts.
- I believe that since this year anyone who has never had a UK passport and applies for one will have to be interviewed.
- Long waiting times.

There's hardly a long waiting time for a British passport. If you are renewing an expired British passport and haven't lost your previous one or had it stolen, there is a 24hour express service available. It does exactly what it says on the tin....you get a new passport within 24 hours.

Alternatively if it is your first application there is a 7 day express service available. Hardly a long waiting time!

Compare that with my country, South Africa, where the waiting time for a new passport is 4 months. Now that is a long waiting time!

By the way, can you explain this Italian passport tax? What exactly do you mean by this?

[bbdivo]

British passport

Advantages:

- Can apply for it and receive it in the post.
- No passport tax.

Disadvantages:

- Need to get signatures from two referees. They must be passport holders, have known you for at least two years and work in one of several specific professions.
- No legal right to one. The Home Office can deny a passport application, e.g. for security reasons, although such a denial can be challenged in the courts.
- I believe that since this year anyone who has never had a UK passport and applies for one will have to be interviewed.
- Long waiting times.

You only need one referee. If you were denied a passport it would have to be an extreme case.
You can also do same day service if you are renewing (at a passport office only though!)

[Marco 72]

There's hardly a long waiting time for a British passport. If you are renewing an expired British passport and haven't lost your previous one or had it stolen, there is a 24hour express service available. It does exactly what it says on the tin....you get a new passport within 24 hours.

That's interesting, I remember it used to take several weeks a few years ago. Back in 1999 a friend of mine had to give up her trip to Germany after it took her too long to get a passport.

Alternatively if it is your first application there is a 7 day express service available. Hardly a long waiting time!

Does that include the interview? All new passport applicants need to have one now. As far as I know Britain is the only country in the world to interview passport applicants.

By the way, can you explain this Italian passport tax? What exactly do you mean by this?

Until a few years ago in order to use your Italian passport you needed to pay a yearly tax (I think it's now about 40 euros). I understand that this is no longer necessary now if one only uses it to travel within the EU (this isn't much of a change, since most people used ID cards to travel within the EU anyway). Every year you need to buy an appropriate sticker and glue it inside your passport. Of course only an Italian border official is likely to care about the presence of these stickers, so it's perfectly ok to travel without them outside Italy. If they do find out you haven't paid the tax you have to pay it on the spot, together with a fine, otherwise they won't let you travel.

By the way, for how long is a UK passport valid?

[JAJ]

That's interesting, I remember it used to take several weeks a few years ago. Back in 1999 a friend of mine had to give up her trip to Germany after it took her too long to get a passport.

There was a particular problem in the summer of 1999 when an IT "upgrade" project didn't work properly. And in a total lack of "joined-up thinking" they not only implemented it at the peak time of year, but didn't think about the new requirement in October 1998 for children to have their own passports.

One of the emergency measures taken was to allow main Post Offices (as a temporary measure) to extend passport validity by two years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/382598.stm

Does that include the interview? All new passport applicants need to have one now. As far as I know Britain is the only country in the world to interview passport applicants.

Interviews are not yet mandatory, but probably soon will be for first time adult passport applicants.

Australia has had this policy for a long time.

By the way, for how long is a UK passport valid?

10 years for adults, 5 years for children under 16. There is some talk that the standard passport validity will be reduced to 5 years soon.

Canadian passports, for example, have had a standard 5 year validity for a long time. And New Zealand recently brought the standard validity down from 10 years to 5.

Incidentally, if you are a dual British/EEA(Swiss) citizen, it's perfectly ok to use the "other" passport to enter and leave the UK.